I'm pretty sure convenience was not a a part of their initial business case as a "financial benefit".
The ROI was most likely based on headcount reduction and savings on paper tickets (consumables).
Somewhere, NSW transport screwed up.

It may not double the cost as they are giving a 50% discount after 8 journeys instead of free. For me, it will probably mean a 50% increase instead of a 100% increase, which is still significant. Although they are keeping the Sunday cap of $2.50, so that keeps Sunday reasonably low, even if it's not free.

I'm with you on cutting toiletries tubes because there's always a surprisingly large amount left in them but how do you reuse stamps? I thought once they have any markings on them you can't use them? Or do you just trust that AP won't care and will send it on for you still?

I borrowed a stack of 'POSTAGE PAID' envelopes from a previous employer. There were no barcodes or identifiers on the envelopes, just the POSTAGE PAID square printed on the corner of the envelope. Impossible to bill anyone the postage cost.

Used them for about 18 months and my mail was always delivered.

Makes me wonder if AusPost just send anything they find in the postbox.

I don't think it's fraud against Australian Post. Shouldn't the postage for those envelops have been paid for, when the envelops were purchased?

If there is no barcode or identifier on the envelope, Australian Post has no way to charge someone for them… so why would they have given your previous employer them?

I suspect your previous employer bought them (with postage included in the price), to save the hassle of buying envelops and buying stamps. So I guess technically you stole from your previous employer, if you were not given the envelopes.

Fraud would be more like… if someone used a photocopier to produce their own postage paid envelops

@cold hotman: What do you mean by 'honour system'? Are you saying Australia Post gives away postage paid envelops with no markings / barcodes / identifiers, and then bills people for them after the fact? How do you know who to charge for a particular envelop?

edit: I've never been a business customer with Australia post, but taking a quick look at the website, it seems the postage paid options are: prepaid envelopes and satches, which according to the website, the price of buying these envelopes and satches includes the price of the postage. Or a 'postage paid australia' imprint, but articles with this must be lodged at a post office. Or there's the reply paid service, but that requires writing a barcode on an envelop. I'm geuinely curious, is there yet another system that railspider could have been referring to?

@saintmagician0: Sort of another system. You can of course purchase postage envelopes paid direct from Australia post but many businesses do receive them in bulk from us (pro grata or tax reduced) for the express purpose of post between them and Auspost/the government/whoever sponsors the envelopes. Using these envelopes for anything else is considered fraud and if successfully traced back to your business could result anything as insignificant fine or as severe as your mail being punitively returned to sender.

We don't really police it actively, hence the 'honour system', it is unlikely that a fraud will be discovered unless somebody dobs it in.

@saintmagician0: I don't want to say too much, but the employer was a big Government Department - and we had boxes of Postage Paid envelopes in all sizes.

I saw the mail-run one day, and all of the outgoing mail was just dumped into the mailbox - no verification or billing done by an AusPost employee. That's what inspired me to use those same envelopes for my personal mail.

You are lucky the posties at your local area don't care. Postage paid envelopes should only be lodged at a post office or at get picked up at an AP business customer with a manifest. Postage paid envelopes lodged at the red boxes are considered unpaid, and will go through revenue streams. Of which they will bill the sender. If no sender details, then they will attempt to bill the receivers. The receivers should then raise the issue with the sender.

Postage paid mark at the top corner of an envelope have no power because anyone can print it, or you can buy a ink stamp that does it for you.

Btw, what do you mean you 'borrowed' the envelopes from your prev employer? Lol

@macrocephalic: if it wasnt you, why didnt you find out who it was, or just let them know. I honestly dont know what happens when the invoices are ignore. Of course if it is large amount, it will go to a debt collector.

I remember from the old C64 days when not quite legitimate software was traded on floppies via the mail, you used to be able to spray certain hairsprays over your stamps and any marks would wipe off very easily. Not that I ever did such a thing when I was a kid of course.

Haha… I was about to write something similar… I remember those days. People I knew used to cover the stamps in water soluble glue when sending to their mates, then at the other end the receiver would soak it off and the postmark would come off with the glue.

Have you tried standing it upside down the lid after each use? I do that for all my shampoo and conditioners etc. It seems to get 99% of it out. The only thing it doesn't work well on is the toothpaste.

@fm: Most girls I have known expected to be lavished with expensive treats, and dining was no exception — them seeing you having a discount will reflect directly on you as a person, they will probably see you as a 'penny-pinching, cheapskate' not a 'sensible, thrifty' guy, and that you don't fully 'value' them.
In contrast however, this doesn't apply to girls with a financial background (bankers, loan brokers, accountants, etc) all seem to value money-wise guys — they will recognise someone who may be able to offer them financial stability/security.

Just excuse yourself and say you're going to the bathroom, go the front of house and pay while shes sitting at the table.

When you come back and the whole "who is paying" conversation comes up, you can be a smooth mofo and say "Don't worry, it's all sorted". You've killed that moment of potential unease before it gets a chance to happen.

She will be impressed ….or that you are a wizard….to which she will still be impressed.

@kryzstoff: They're the sort of girls you want to steer clear of! Usually chicks who have no control or self discipline with their own finances, with the illusion they don't need to take care of their own destiny, because eventually some guy is going to come along and 'save' them!

I don't get why it's an embarrassment - the business has to volunteer to put the deal up in the book in the first place. You are merely taking them up on their offer. You also have to buy-in to get the book in the first place.

If it wasn't for the entertainment book there would be many restaurants I would never have gone to or even heard about. The only reason I stumbled upon them was because of the entertainment book and if they were good then we've gone back again, which is the main reason why they put the deal in the book in the first place.

I find Shop-a-docket deals embarrassing as you don't buy in and rocking up with a crumbled, torn up bit of paper, that you got for free on the back of a receipt, just feels cheap. Not sure why though as by the same logic the business has offered up the deal to begin with.

At least with the Entertainment Book you have a card and now the app on the phone.

I would argue there is nothing embarrasing about this. It shows you are financially-savvy! Might even increased her opinion of you. The trick is not to hide it, but casually mention it on the way out, about how you have this card, and how good it is … :-)

Exactly. Slap it down with confidence and sit back in your chair like everything is exactly as it should be, and only the girls you really want to stay away from will have a problem with it. (don't make a thing of it, and it won't be) Being embarrassed is a product of your self esteem and I think you will find more often than not, the only person who even thinks twice about it is you.

During my Uni days, I found a certain computer room in my Uni that allowed access to local drives and was not monitored by the download limits. Suffice to say I did all my downloads/torrents there so my 10gb home limit was always good.

Although having said that, from my perspective I don't think it was 'despicable' considering how much fees Uni was robbing from me. I feel sorry for the kids these days that have compulsory student union fees.

At UNSW, the wifi is monitored for torrenting and they handed out a few fines to students. I had a uni group assignment and we used a private room which had computers. A couple of us unplugged the ethernet cables and plugged them into their laptops. 100mb/s upload and download "untraceable" torrents.

Back in the last century there used to be up to 10 public pay phones at Post Offices'…rows of them…there always seemed to be one that made free calls to 'STD' numbers (long distance)… Sydney used to be 'long distance' from the Central Coast! Locals seemed to know which one it was and sometimes you had to stand in line to use it. I always felt guilty using it….still used it though.